Najib inks 'new deal' with Hindraf

It did not turn out the way public expected. Hindraf and BN signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the "uplifting of the Indian Malaysian community".

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy signed the deal in an event at Vivekananda Tamil School Hall, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur this evening.

The agreement, dubbed the 'Hindraf-BN five-year blueprint for the Indian community', focuses on four key areas - the upliftment of displaced estate workers, resolving the issue of statelessness, the  provision of both education and business opportunities.

Waythamoorthy said that the agreement with BN would mark the beginning of Hindraf's new journey as the two parties focus first on the economic uplifting of the Indian community.

"There are many more areas that we need to look at before we fully uplift the Indian community, but we feel we have to start with the substance by addressing economic issues," he said.

Najib meanwhile apologised for the "lapses in delivery" towards the Indian community by BN over the years, but said that BN's working relationship with Hindraf is better "late than never".

Hindraf's original blueprint aims to resolve six major problems faced by the Indian community, namely: Displaced estate workers, stateless persons, lack of access to education and job opportunities, police brutality including deaths in custody, and institutionalised racism.

Some of the proposed solutions include providing adequate compensation and skills training for displaced estate workers, establishing a minority affairs ministry, implementing the Independent Police Misconduct and Complaints Commission (IPCMC) and ratifying the UN's International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The Hindraf-BN agreement today apparently did not address a number of key areas of the movement's blueprint, especially racism and deaths in custody.  

[More to follow]